Payroll to be turned over to outside company

The vendor is Harpers Payroll Services. Ms. Doane said the cost will be $9,500 annually, less than the $15,000 contract with Munis for payroll software.

Ms. Doane said with staff changes, including the loss of a longtime employee, it made sense to go with the outside company. She said there were more than 100 tax code changes last year, making it difficult for in house staff to keep up with state and federal tax laws.

"The anxiety level for me has been really high since we've had turnover in that department," Ms. Doane said. She said by using an outside vendor, the town reduces its liability for any mistakes.

Ms. Doane said staff will still be busy with tasks like open enrollment for health care and electronically filing time cards, plus maintaining records, "but we don't need to know state and federal tax law changes. This frees up time."

The municipal staff at Town Hall also handles payroll for the school department.

Also on Monday, Kristie Costa, tax collector, said they will be using a lock box service through a bank for bill collection for residents' tax bills through the same bank the town uses now for deposits and other banking functions.

Ms. Costa gave the example of 10,000 motor vehicle tax bills that she and a clerk handle manually. Now, she said, the vendor will pick up the bills twice daily from the lock box and deposit checks that same day in the town's bank account. Ms. Costa said the town won't be charged for the service as long as it maintains an average $1.5 million balance with the bank.